Tonsillotome



H. H. CARSTENS.

TONSILLOTOME.

APPLxcATloN FILED JAN. 10. 1921.

139736717,` Patented Nov. 22,1921'.

H. H. CARSTENS.

TONSILLOTOME.

APPLICATION FILED 1AN10,1921.

Patented Nov. 22, 1921.

2 SHEETS--SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERBERT H. CARSENS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR 'lG H. CARSTENS MANU- FACTURING CO., 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, .A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

TONSILLOTOME.

isomer?.

Specification of Letters Eatent.

Patented Nov. 22, 1921.

Application filed January 10, 1921. Serial No. 436,038.

To all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, HERBERT H. CAnsTnNs, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, Cook county, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Tonsillotomes, of which the following is declared to be a full, clear, and exact description.

rlhis invention relates to tonsillotomes and among its objects are to simplify, to reduce the cost of manufacture and to otherwise improve upon instruments of this character. Another object is to provide an instrument which combines a crushing member for crushing or macerating the arteries, with a cutting member, thereby minimizing` the danger of hemorrhage which is usually attendant with severance of a tonsil by a knife. Another object is to provide a tonsillotome, the parts of which are readily and quickly assembled for use or disassem-V bled for cleaning and sterilizing purposes. Another object is to provide a tonsillotome which is positive in action, is easy to manipulate, is not liable to get out of order and is of substantial but comparatively light construction. With these and other objects in view, this invention consists in the several novel features of construction, arrangement and combination of parts, hereinafter fully set forth and claimed.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly broken out, of a tonsillotome embodying a simple form of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a detail cross section taken on line 2 2 ofy Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a detail cross section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a plan of the instrument; Fig. 5 ig, a view, partly in side elevation and partly in central longitudinal section of the instrument, showing the parts in operative locked position; Fig. 6 is a fragmental, longitudinal section of a certain frame member, hemostat bar and knife, and showing a certain detent connection between the hemostat bar and knife; Fig. 7 is a side elevation of theinstrument with the frame member and associated parts' detached from the handle portion, the han dles being shown in a position occupied when re-assembling the parts; Fig. 8 is a fragmental side elevation showing a certain latch for locking the frame member and handle` portion together, the view being taken in the direction of the arrow 8 in Fig.

4; Fig. 9 is a detail, longitudinal section taken on line -9 of Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is a plan of the hemostat bar; Fig. 11 is a side elevation thereof; F ig. 12 is a plan of the knife; Fig. 13 is a side elevation thereof; Fig. 14: is a plan of the frame member; Fig. 15 is a side elevation thereof, and Fig. 16 is a detail, cross section taken on line 16-16 of Fig. 1.

Referring to said drawings, the reference character 20 designates the handleportion and 21 a unit consisting of a frame member 37, a hemostat bar 38 and a knife 39, which unit is connectible with and disconnectible, as a whole, from the handle portion. The handle portion comprises two handle members 20"t and 20h, pivotally secured together at 24; by a suitable pivot pin, as is customary in surgical instruments of this character. Abutting springs 2- ysecured to said handle members 20, 20", act to yieldingly spread said members apart. The handle members are formed with grip or grasping portions 22, 23, and one of the handle members 2Ob is formed at one end with `an elongated, rectangular, lengthwise slotted socket member 26, in which the frame member is removably secured by a latch, here shown as compris-` ing a flexible latch plate 27 (see Figs. 8 and 9) secured to the side of the socketfmember 26 by a screw 28 and having a pin 29 adapted to enter a hole 30 in the frame member 37. y

Projecting rearwardly from the socket member 26 is a screw threaded stem 31, which is xedly connected with the socket member 2G and has a knob 32 secured upon its outer end. Conveniently, andas a matter of economy of construction, the screw threaded stem 31 is attached to a forked block 33 which straddles the rear end ofthe top member or wall 26a of the socket mem-` ber 26 (see Fig. 5) and is fastened thereto by a screw 34. On the stem 31 is threaded a knife actuating and locking nut 35, which, in the operation of the instrument, is moved up against the adjacent end of the. knife;

The handle member 2Oa is formed with an actuating arm 36 that is rocked back and forth in the socket member 26 and actuates the hemostat bar 38 and knife 39 as will be explained later, and a thumb screw 37a is threaded in the handle member 20b and is adapted to bear against said handle member a to hold it in any position of adjustment with respect to its companion handle inember, assumed when the grips 22, 23, Vare' brought ytoward each other.

Preferably the threaded pin 3l andV the Vthumb screw 37a are eaeh provided with multiple threads,to facilitate speed inadjusting them.

guideV lugs d2 that are formed on the sides' of the hemostat bar 38. Between the hemostat bar 38 and frame member 37 is interv posed the knife 39, the blade 43 of which fits to move in a lengthwise direction.

between the flanges il and is guided thereby i Said knife is made of comparatively thin material and.' Vis formed with a flexible detent p lll that engages in a hole 45 in the hemo- Cit ' solid connection between the frame member je o Yduring` vthe enttngg operation.

stat bar, these parte being so located that when the detent is-engaged in the hole, the cutting` edge i6 of the knife blade is held behind the crushingr edge 5tof the here stat bar (see Figs. i lind 6) and the knife and hemostat bar are thereby kept in this rela@ tive posit-.imiV while they are reeiprocated by the handle' member 2C, but are moved ont of snch relative positionby the mit when the knife is moved relative to the hemostat bar i Said detent also aids Vin positioning the hemostat bar and knife on the frai member during the assembling of theunitQl with the handle portiony 20.

ylhe frame member 37 has a shank i8 on the end oppositethe fenestrrnfwi adapted to be inserted int-o the socket portion 26', and' secured therein by the pin 29 of theV latch 27. The corner ofthe shank adjacent the hole 30 is beveled to facilitate the assemblage of the parts. .er `shoulder on the rame member 37 abuts against the forward edgev or end of the socket member 26 when` the partsare fiillyessembled andaffords a and socket member. Said shoulder projects aboive'the frame member 37 `at both sides knife in alinementN with "the Yframe member when assembling' the. parts.

The frame member 37 is formed with a lengthwise extending' slot 50 throngh which the Vactuating armBS of thevhandle member 2OCt plays, and thehemostat jbar and ,knife areformed'withlengthwise extending slots in which the actuating arm 36 engages h shank isV with said hemostat bar and knife to effect their reciprocation. The slot 52 of the knife is considerably longer than the slot 51 of the hemostat bar to permit of independent movement of the knife with respect to said bar, which takes place during the cutting action of the knife. Said knife is somewhat longer than' the frame member 37 and when the parts are'assembled, projects beyond the rear end of the socket member 26, as at 39a, where its reduced end lies ina position in front of, or enters recess in a hub portion lonof the nut 35. (See Figs. l and 5.)

ln the operation of the instrument, the

grip, or grasping parts 22, 23, of the handle portion are grasped and pressed together against the action of the springs 25. The actuating arm 3G isV thereby swung` forward from'the position seen in Fig. l to that seen in Fig. 5 and the hemostat bar and knife are thereby moved forward along the frame member through the engagement of the actuating-arm with the forward endA of the slot 51., the cutting edge of the blade d3, as above set forth, followingv behind the crushing edge of the hemostat bar. @When the hemostat bar has been moved as Yfar asit will go, the thumbserew 37a is screweddownagainst the back of the actuating arm 36, thereby locking it and the heinostat bar against retraction. The nut is thereupon screwed up against the end 'nlnof the knife, and the latter' then moved forward independently of the hemostat bar, by further turning'the nut on thestem 3l; As the independent movement of theV knife takes place, the detent becomes disengaged from the hole in the hemostat bar. The crushing and cutting ,peration of the tonsil is well understood by those skilled inthe art to which this invention pertains, andv requires no detailedeX- planation so far as this specification is con-V cerned. '.lo release and retract the parts, the nut is turned back to the knob 32, andthe thumb screw 37il partly unscrewed, the inge then acting tov restorethe handle Y. lo and therewith the hemostat bar d knife to their former position, except that the knife blade edge is now forward of me crashing edge of the hemostat bar." By

pressing,A the grip parts ,22, 23, together slight y, the detent will snap into the hole in the hemostat bar, thereby connecting the knife and bar so that they move in unison.

To disconnect the unit 21 from the handle ortion 20 the latch plate 27 is swung;` out retract the pin 29 from the hole 3Q of the .ie member, and the unit 2l is withdrawn a o knife are then-detached from the e member by sliding them out from the y .ranging flanges irland separirtingV them. To reassemble they instrument, thekni-fe andheinostat bar are replaced'on thefra-me member, with the lslots 51, 52, in register with the slot 50, the grips 22, 23, pressed together, and the shank 48 and end 39a of knife inserted into the socket member. When the slots 50, 52, 51, coincide with the end of the actuating arm 36, the handle member 22 is released and the unit 2l pushed back into the socket, until the shoulder 49 engages the end of the socket member 26 and the pin 29 snaps into the hole 30 in the shank 48.

More or less variation of the exact details of construction is possible without departing from the spirit of this invention; I desire, therefore, not to limit myself to the eX- act form of the construction shown and described, but intend, in the following claims, to point out all of the invention disclosed herein.

I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

l. A tonsillotome comprising a pair of pivoted together handles, one handle member of which is provided with an actuating arm, and the other handle member with a socket member, a screw threaded stem stationarily secured to said socket member and projecting rearwardly therefrom, a knife actuatingJ and locking nut, threaded on said stem, a frame member detachably secured in said socket member and having a fenestra at its forward end, a hemostat bar and a knife slidably mounted on said frame member, there being slots in said hemostat bar and knife in which said actuating arm operatively engages said hemostat bar and knife to reciprocate them, and said nut being adapted for actuating said knife independently of the hemostat bar.

2. A tonsillotome comprising a pair of pivoted together h andles, one handle member of which is provided with an actuating arm, and the other handle member with a socket member, a screw threaded stem stationarily secured to said socket member and projecting rearwardly therefrom, a knife actuating and locking nut, threaded on said stem, a thumb screw, threaded in one handle member and adapted to bear against the other handle member, a frame member detachably secured in said socket member and having a fenestra at its forward end, a iemostat bar and knife slidably mounted on said frame member, there being slots in said hemostat bar and knife in which said actuating arm operatively engages said hemostat bar and knife to reciprocate them, said thumb screw being adapted to lock the handle member against which it bears, and therewith the hemostat bar, in projected position, and said nut 'being adapted for actuating said knife independently of the hemostat bar.

A tonsillotome comprising a pair of pivoted together handles, one handle member ef which is provided with an actuating arm, and the other handle member with a socket member, a screw threaded stem stationarily secured to said socket member and projecting rearwardly therefrom, a knife Y and knife being disconnectible from the socket member as a unit.

a. A tonsillotome comprising a pair of pivoted together handles, one handle member of which is provided with an actuating arm, and the other handle member with a socket member, a screw threaded stem fixedly secured to said socket member and project` ing rearwardly therefrom, a knife actuating and locking nut threaded on said stem, a frame member detachably secured in said socket member and having a fenestra at its forward end, a hemostat bar and a knife slidably mounted on said frame member, there being slots in said hemostat bar and knife in which said actuating arm operatively engages said hemostat bar and knife to reciprocate them, a iierible detent connection between said knife and hemostat bar, for causing simultaneous movement of one with the other, but permitting of independent relative movement, and said nut being adapted for actuating said knife independpivoted together handles, one handle member of which is provided with an actuating arm, and the other handle member with a socket member, a screw threaded stem iiXedly secured to said socket member and projecting rearwardly therefrom, a knife actuating and locking nut threaded on said stem, a frame member detachably Vsecured in said socket member and having a fenestra at its forward end, a hemostat bar and a knife slidably mounted on said frame member, there being slots in said hemostat bar and knife in which said actuating arm operatively engages said hemostat bar and knife to reciprocate them, a flexible detent on said knife engaging in a socket in the hemostat bar for causing simultaneous movement of one with the other, but permitting of independent relative movement, and said nut being adapted for actuating said knife independently of the hemostat bar.

6. In a tonsillotome, the combination with eoeke; member7 en@ e ku'e eme-ting an( en?. en, Seisiem, of e Cei' neet-Unie Wh and disioe frere heid seeket pew-ieu? and eompfs- ''eme nfemxfir ma?. e hemestat ber and u un @l Saud 'En e, iensilleemfg like ei? pivote@ t: InembelL of Wh 'fied with en edle member :Ne'ngj eine md the eth1- Tm with a socket member, n .fel'evr 3l/Headed Seem i L bal Ying "lng arm. In e, tensllleemm the eeunbmatlen 'with L ed knife h an operabe 'ed eherete, saidY dhmember of Whehis p'oved with m :xciueng erm, and the other henle member with a Seeset njenxbel-a screw threaded stem steienayly Secure/e 0 'Seid Socket member, a ku-r actuating and eengnumeeded Said "sem, sind, e humg seew -thleedeaf :In one handle nembel" ed edaped" to beau', against :uid eck'the @eher handle egauet retracief, ef e unitary structure cey eeetzne Wzh and diSeemeeifbeV 'from Seid Socket memer and Ycen/lpsmg e frame membe :md a ,hemee at bzw: and knife sdaey and eaehzibly eeffmed therein, 'sec hemeeat 1: and knife hmffjnge operable eenneeten will sind :minutie: erm.

member e .heme .member supported thereby,

eee yelet've mevemen, hemesJ-e ber OQe'- etmgmeaus end mependen kms'fe 'opereting ineens.

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